Clebrity Night Shot

Sao Paulo was colonized partially by Italians and has a large Italian community. With that came the tradition of making a good pizza. Pizza might be the most popular dish among "paulistanos" and they demand nothing but the best in the art of making it. It's so beloved among them that they even have the "Pizza Day" celebrated on July 10th! Years have passed and today we find all kinds of pizza, from the traditional margherita to gourmet combinations such as truffles and champagne. There are 3 things that I consider most important to make the best pizza:

Antipasti: the dough. To me, it's the most important part of the pizza. The precise combination of high quality ingredients, right temperature, and time in the oven is crucial to make you eat the crust by itself. Golden crisp borders outside and soft airy inside, gradually flattens toward the center. I know a lot of people that don't eat the crust, and that is because they haven't tried a perfect one. I even dip mine in olive oil.

Primi: the high quality and freshness of the ingredients. Pizza is a simple dish but it doesn't mean that whatever goes on top makes a good one. High quality of cheese, for instance, it's essential so you don't have gooey rubber band like effect when you take a bite. Greens on top like the infamous arugula with sundried tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella should look green as if you just took it from the garden. Ah, with or without tomato sauce? It's all a matter of taste, but if that's your choice, it better be light and fresh.

Secondi: the creativity. I'm not a purist so I appreciate creativity when inventing new flavors. Pizza toppings open up a whole lot of possibilities for infinite creations. Nothing against traditional flavors, as a matter of fact, the old school margherita is still one of my favorites. But please just balance the ingredients so one doesn't overpower the other. Seriously, can you taste anything else with a spicy pepperoni sausage?

Finally, I dare to say that you can find all together much more in Sao Paulo than in New York. That raises a lot of eyebrows indeed. I'm not saying they make the best pizza in the world but certainly...it's pretty close to "whoever" makes the best pizza in the world.